Awaiting a White House response . . .

THE MASS shooting at a Connecticut elementary school two weeks ago has reignited the national debate about the control and regulation of high-powered weapons. With passions high, the murder of 20 schoolchildren and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary has put gun-rights advocates on the political defensive for the first time in more than a decade.

Recently, CNN talk-show host Piers Morgan conducted a contentious interview with Gun Owners of America executive director Larry Pratt that incensed enough Second Amendment absolutists to sign a petition to the White House urging that the British national be deported.

The petition accuses Mr. Morgan of engaging "in a hostile attack against the U.S. Constitution by targeting the Second Amendment" and "for his effort to undermine the Bill of Rights."

As is its policy, the Obama administration has promised to respond to all petitions received by the White House that come with at least 25,000 signatures. As of Thursday, more than 83,500 irate Second Amendment supporters had signed the petition to expel Mr. Morgan for exercising his rights under the First Amendment.

It isn't likely that the TV interviewer has to worry about immigration officials knocking on his door anytime soon. Recently, a petition to allow Texas to secede from the United States topped 120,000 signatures, while another petition demanding the construction of a Death Star exceeded 31,000. Some people will sign their name to anything.

The call to have Mr. Morgan expelled is, at best, an exercise in silliness and cynicism and it exposes as naive the White House promise to respond to every petition carrying a hefty number of signatures. The best reply this time would be a cold shoulder of silence.